


for the people

by kiyala



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Community: trope_bingo, M/M, Superheroes, Team Dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-12
Updated: 2013-05-12
Packaged: 2017-12-11 15:58:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/800504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiyala/pseuds/kiyala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jehan looks around at the group, at Grantaire, Enjolras, Combeferre, Courfeyrac, Bahorel, Joly and Bossuet. He sighs and says, "We're not a team. We're a time-bomb."</p>
            </blockquote>





	for the people

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [this graphic by my lovely Joly Bean!](http://jolybean.tumblr.com/post/50147455707/)

**GRANTAIRE**

Grantaire uses the _volatile_ written in his report like it's permission, like it's a challenge. He's wild, unpredictable, with alcohol constantly on his breath. Enjolras can't stand him and for the most part, he can't stand Enjolras either.

"I thought you'd be more like your father," Enjolras says, brow creased in a deep frown. "I'm disappointed."

Grantaire opens his mouth to reply. He sucks in a deep, shaky breath, and raises his bottle to his lips instead, walking away. He doesn't speak to anyone for the rest of the day. He hides out in his garage instead, in the company of his bottles and his machines, all of them happy to let him do as he pleases without comment.

He'd gotten into the business because he has the money, he has the power, and despite what the rest of his board members seem to think, he has the time. He just doesn't get why Valjean's decided to make it a _group activity_ when he's been doing perfectly fine on his own.

**ENJOLRAS**

People follow Enjolras now, the same way they did before. He can only hope that he'll lead them in the right direction when he's still trying to figure out what direction that is. The world's changed so much while he's slept but in some ways, it feels like they haven't gotten anywhere at all.

He'd fallen into the ice thinking he was going to die, thinking that what he was doing would lead to progress for others, for _change_ and he's confused and frustrated by what he sees, not because it's beyond his comprehension, but because he'd expected more.

The closest thing he has to the _future_ he'd expected is the basement level of Grantaire's building, but he doesn't feel welcome there, and cannot feel comfortable there. Not when Grantaire is so similar to his father and yet so different, and so incredibly conscious of this difference. He looks at Enjolras with reverence at times, when he thinks he can go unnoticed, but every time they talk, Grantaire treats him with impatience, like something too old, too idealistic to fit into his world.

It would bother Enjolras less if he wasn't afraid that Grantaire's right.

**COMBEFERRE**

It's his smile. It's the way he'll listen, the way he asks the right questions at the right time. It's the way he looks completely unthreatening, giving people the impression that he isn't doing this for any reason other than the fact that he genuinely _cares_.

That, and the fact that Combeferre doesn't leave people living for long enough afterwards that they can realise that he's just convinced them to tell him everything they know.

He doesn't mind being underestimated. He doesn't even mind the fact that most people he works with don't understand him at all. Not when he has Courfeyrac, who'd found him when there was so much blood on his hands that he could no longer tell one face apart from another. Courfeyrac, whose eyes saw everything, who had immediately noticed the fact that the blood wasn't there out of Combeferre's choice.

It had been Courfeyrac, with his encouraging smile and his guiding hand, to show him that it didn't always have to be like this. It's Courfeyrac for whom Combeferre will sit there and actually listen, actually care, in a way he'd once feared he'd be incapable of doing.

Combeferre belongs, here. He still lies, he still extracts secrets, he still kills. But now, he does it on his own terms.

**COURFEYRAC**

He's kept around because his eyes are sharp, because he sees things that other people miss, and because Valjean trusts his judgement. He supposes that's why he's on the team, too. There's definitely plenty to see, with the way everyone's different personalities are clashing, some of them figuring out how to work with each other, some refusing to even try.

Courfeyrac takes a seat beside Combeferre, some distance away from the others, and sighs heavily.

"Enjolras and Grantaire," Combeferre says, not even needing to ask.

"Yeah." Courfeyrac runs a hand through his hair. "They'd be great, if they could figure out how to actually work together. I just don't know if they'll manage that any time soon."

"I'll talk to Grantaire," Combeferre says. "He'll listen to me."

Courfeyrac nudges him with an elbow. " _Everyone_ listens to you."

Combeferre looks at him with a raised eyebrow. "You don't."

Courfeyrac grins at that. "Well, no. But that's part of my charm."

**BAHOREL**

Bahorel is new and strange, and what some people seem to forget is that this is all equally new and strange to him. He's loud, he's friendly, he enjoys a good brawl, and all of these things combine to give people the impression that he doesn't think very hard about very much.

He enjoys their surprise when he adjusts to the world around him quicker than they adjust to him. He doesn't lose his cheer, or the wild aura that follows him around, like the charged ions in the air after a storm. He fights his teammates before he accepts them, because that's the way he works. He gauges their strengths, their weaknesses, notes which ones fight and which remain standing in the background, arms folded, watching instead.

He takes special note of the small, quiet one at the very back, with his head bowed, never making a sound, watching Bahorel with a strange look that he can't quite decipher. It may take him a while, but Bahorel will figure this out, too.

**JEHAN**

Jehan watches Bahorel with something akin to envy, watches him fight with an improbable combination of reckless abandon and controlled strength. It's everything Jehan craves and is terrified of at the same time.

He holds The Other Guy at bay, and it's not the constant struggle that it used to be, before Valjean had him brought in, but it isn't easy either. Watching Bahorel just makes it even more difficult, because there's a part of him that craves to just let loose, to go toe to toe with all that power and see what happens.

Instead, he stays where he is, looking away, letting Grantaire poke and prod at him. He likes Grantaire, as difficult as he can be. Grantaire isn't afraid of him—he probably understands self-loathing just as well as Jehan does—and it's nice to have someone who knows him, knows what he's capable of, who can still treat him like anyone else.

He overhears Bahorel talking to Bossuet, saying, "Tell me about Prouvaire."

And when Bahorel treats him no differently afterwards, it makes Jehan happier than he could have expected.

**JOLY**

Joly is so worried that he won't fit in with the rest of the team that he spends a good hour and a half stuck to the side of the building. It's Courfeyrac who climbs up after him and coaxes him to come down, who introduces him to Combeferre, who calms him down entirely.

"You're nervous, we get it," Combeferre says, his hand on Joly's shoulder. "Enjolras and Grantaire are… well, they're pretty big names. But trust me, you don't have to worry about them at all."

Except when they finally go back inside, Enjolras and Grantaire's usual arguments have escalated to the point where they're actually throwing things at each other. Bahorel is cheering them on, while Jehan looks on in concern.

Combeferre sighs, rubbing his hand over his face.

Courfeyrac nudges Joly with a grin. "I just thought of a great way to introduce you to everyone."

Breaking up a fight between the two biggest superheroes by wrapping them individually with his webs is… new. It's definitely not the last time Joly has to do it.

**BOSSUET**

Bossuet recognises that he is not the luckiest person to exist.

He'd go as far as to say he's _spectacularly unlucky_ , but he still doesn't see why this gives Valjean the right to make him have to deal with the Avengers. He doesn't know why Valjean thinks this is going to work and more importantly, he has _no idea_ how he's going to manage it. He's heard enough horror stories about Enjolras and Grantaire already, and he's had more than enough personal experience with Grantaire to know that it isn't even exaggerated.

But he walks into the building, to find both of them trussed up with webs, not even struggling against their bonds even though they're yet to stop glaring at each other. Combeferre has a tiny smile tugging at his lips and Courfeyrac isn't even trying to hide the fact that he's laughing so hard that his sides are hurting.

He turns to Joly, who is standing there, looking both proud and terrified, and says, "You. I like you."


End file.
